The Little Red Book
by Eamane SHU
Summary: There are stories where frogs turn into princes after the kiss of a beautiful maiden. However this is not one of those stories, sometimes a frog is just a frog and all frogs want an occasional kiss from a pretty girl. What was written in Sarah's little red book?


Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, as all good stories begin, there was a fairytale kingdom.

It was a small land, though prosperous, peaceful and fair, and in this kingdom lived a Princess. Tales of her beauty spread throughout the land, with her hair as black as jet, her eyes as green as emeralds and her lips as red as rubies. She had flawless porcelain skin, and it was said that she was the most beautiful Princess that had ever lived.

She lived alone with her father, the King, for her mother had died many winters ago. The young Princess was happy, for she loved her father, and she in turn was beloved, not only of her father but of her people as well, for she had a gentle nature and grew more beautiful each day.

The Princess did not believe that she could want for anything more in her life, until the day when her father remarried, believing that the Princess needed a mother. His new queen was beautiful, but a harsh and cruel woman, who loved nobody but herself. And, just over a year after their wedding, the King's wife bore him a much longed-for son. The baby boy was a spoilt child, who wanted everything for himself, and the step-mother indulged him, favouring her son over her step daughter and the Princess became practically a slave. The King did not see this, enamoured as he was with his new wife, and pleased with his son, he believed that his daughter shared his delight. However while the Princess suffered cruelly at her stepmother's hand, her kindness meant that she did not complain of her woes to her father.

Stories of the Princess's beauty and of her suffering spread throughout her land, and then into the lands of others. Eventually word of the Princess and her plight came to the ear of the Goblin King, and in secret he travelled to the castle where the Princess and her family lived. He came across the Princess sitting beside a well, weeping. Tears ran along her gentle face and fell into the water, causing a cascade of ripples to be formed. The moment he laid eyes on her beauty his heart was hers, though she did not yet know it.

"Princess" he said to her, his voice rich and melodious "by what means does a girl as beautiful as yourself have such reason to cry?"

His words only caused her to sob harder, for it had been an age since anybody had shown her any pity.

"I weep because I am so tired" she cried "my stepmother wishes me to carry water from this well up into my tower, so that my baby brother can bathe. But there is no strength left in my body for me to do the task, and I will be beaten if it is not finished."

"Hush now my dear" the Goblin King replied, and with a wave of his hand the task was done.

"Thank you so much" and as she smiled it was as if the sun had come out. "Whatever can I do to repay you?"

"Perhaps a kiss" he requested, but seeing her falter he smiled wryly "maybe another time." He paused and then spoke again "I make you an offer Princess. Should you become tired of slaving away for your baby brother, I can take him away, to my castle of Goblins."

"I should never wish that" she told him.

"But if you should…." He leant towards her and whispered into her ear the words that she needed to say if she wanted to send her baby brother to the goblins. Then with a flash of light he was gone.

Life in the castle continued as normal, the Queen and the baby Prince, and now even some of the servants under the Queen's control bullied the Princess dreadfully. But, what no-one knew was that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl and had given her certain powers. Now when her Stepmother's servants beat her she did not bleed. The heavy objects that she carried day after day felt lighter. And when in a fit of jealousy over her stepdaughters beauty the wicked Queen cut off all the Princess's beautiful hair; it grew back the next day, longer and shinier than ever.

One night when the baby had been particularly nasty the Princess called on the goblins to help her. And they said to her "Say your right words and we'll take the baby away to the Goblin city and then you'll be free." Those were their words to her.

But, the Princess knew that the King of the Goblins would keep the baby in his castle forever and he would turn the baby into a goblin. And so she suffered in silence, through many a long month. Until one night, worn out by a day of slaving housework, and hurt beyond measure by the harsh words of her stepmother she could bear it no longer. So she called for the King of the Goblins to take her brother away.

She stood at the open window of her brother's window and called

"Goblin King!

Goblin King!

Wherever ye may be,

Come take this child o' mine

Far away from me!"

Thunder rolled and lightning struck the earth and as it did the goblins came and snatched the infant from his cradle. And in his place stood the King of the Goblins. He was an incredibly handsome man, with mis-matched eyes, one a rich brown and the other a startlingly clear blue. His hair as black as midnight, and his clothes as dark.

"I have saved you. I have liberated you from those bonds that distressed you and frightened you. You're free now your highness."

When the Princess realised what she had done she was horrified. She looked upon the fearsome Goblin King and begged him to return her brother, because for all his selfishness, he was still her blood kin and she loved him dearly.

"Please give me my brother back" she finished.

But the Goblin King merely replied "What's said is said."

The Princess sank to her knees and wept, and the Goblin King, unable to watch her cry, spoke to her again. "I have brought you a gift." He held a crystal out to her, and as she reached for it he span it in his hands "If you look into it this way it will show you your dreams. But if you want it you must forget the child."

"I cannot" she replied, finding a new strength in her voice. "Where is my brother? I want him back"

"He is in my castle, the Castle Beyond the Goblin City." He continued more slowly "But, before you reach the city, you must traverse my labyrinth".

"It is not that far." she stated boldly.

"It's further than you think." He replied, before vanishing into the night.

The Princess sank to the ground and wept for the loss of her brother, but fear soon turned into steely resolve, and the Princess pulled on her beautiful silver cloak and her prettiest boots before setting off to find her brother.

The Princess did not know the way to the Goblin City, but she had once heard of it mentioned, lying to the North of her father's kingdom, so she set off in that direction. As she travelled she saw many of her fathers subjects and they would say to her "

Princess, what are you doing, travelling alone, so far from home?"

And she would reply "I seek out the labyrinth. Do you know where it is?" But none of her father's people knew how to get there.

So the Princess walked, and walked until she walked right out of her kingdom and into the wilderness.

Soon the Princess walked into a great forest, where the trees grew so tall that it was as dark as midnight, even in the middle of the day. The Princess was afraid of the dark, and she kept imagining all the goblins and ghouls that lurked behind the trees and in the shadows, but she mastered her fear and kept walking.

After three days the forest became lighter and the trees became less dense. The Princess was ravenous with hunger, for she knew that those who ate food in the Forest of Midnight rarely lived to tell the tale.

The Princess soon came upon a small cottage, so old that it looked like it might fall down at any moment. She ran to the doorstep and hammered her tiny fists against the door. It was answered by an old woman.

The old lady was so ravaged by time, that she stood hunched over backwards, her face was covered in warts and she wore dirty rags.

"Please" said the Princess "can you spare some food and shelter, for I have been walking for so long, and I am so tired and hungry."

"Come in my child" said the old woman "I do not have much food, but what I will share what I have."

The Princess entered the old woman's house, a ramshackle old cottage, more ancient than even the crone who dwelt there. There they shared a simple meal of stew and rough brown bread, yet it was one of the best meals that the Princess had ever partaken.

The holes in the wall did little to stop the cold wind and seeing the old woman shiver the Princess rushed to her side and wrapped her silver cloak around her shoulder. "Here mother, take this, you must warm yourself by the fire."

The next day the Princess took her leave of the old woman and continued on her way, tramping through the grassland for many days, until, cold, hungry and exhausted she could walk no more. She fell to the ground and within moments she was asleep.

When the Princess awoke she was covered in leaves and she could hear the whispering of tiny creatures.

"She's awake!"

"Who are you?" the Princess asked, brushing down her dress.

"Princess" a rabbit replied, it's fur was as brown as chocolate. "We have heard of your plight, you were so kind to our dear Mistress that we wanted to help you."

The Princess stammered her thanks and quickly ate the food that the rabbits had gathered her, sweet berries, nuts and crunchy root vegetables.

"You should go home" the rabbits told her "it is still a long way to the Castle beyond the Goblin city and the labyrinth is very dangerous."

"I cannot return" the Princess told them firmly "I must find my brother."

The Princess continued her trek, but now every night she was covered with a blanket of the softest leaves and woke to find a pile of food had been gathered for her. She walked and walked until one day the soles of her pretty boots gave out. The Princess loved her boots dearly as they had been a gift from her father and she wept as she took them off and threw them aside and then kept walking.

She walked until the hard stones upon the ground caused her feet to bleed and until every last step made tears roll down her face. Every night she ripped the hem of her dress to make bandages and her sumptuous gown had turned to dirty rags.

Indeed with her dirty bloodied feet and ragged dress, very few would recognise her as the Princess that she was.

One day the Princess found herself on the edge of a great plain, dry and dusty. On the horizon she could see a great dark object. "The labyrinth" she whispered to herself with pride. "I am almost there."

It took one more day of walking until the Princess reached it's borders. The Princess stood upon the edge of the labyrinth and looked at the great gates before her. She ran at them and beat her fists upon the door.

"Who wishes to enter my labyrinth?" the voice of the Goblin King boomed.

"I have come to claim my brother" the Princess said, sounding braver than she felt.

Out of nowhere the Goblin King appeared to her.

"Who might you be?" he demanded of her, for her appearance was so altered he barely recognised her.

"I am the daughter of a King who lives many miles hence" she told him and he could see her royalty in the glint of her eye and in her proud baring.

"My beautiful Princess, you are a long way from home" he murmured softly into her ear. "Just look at your poor feet and your once beautiful dress."

"My dress does not matter to me, nor did my cloak and nor did my boots; though I have lost them both."

"And your feet?"

"My feet matter" she confessed "I need them to find my brother. Please take me to him."

"Alas I cannot" The Goblin King ran his fingers along her cheek and she leaned into his caress, it had been so long since anybody had bestowed any affection upon her.

"If you give up all thoughts of your brother, you could rule at my side. My Queen, for all eternity. Just think Princess, I would bestow on you everything you could ever dream, your every wish would be my command." The tips of his fingers rested on her chin and tilted her face towards his, and he bent his head ever so slightly, moving his lips to meet hers in a gentle kiss. Before their lips made contact she spoke.

"No" she said, her voice low but firm.

"Why do you keep fighting me?" he asked her, his voice soft and gentle. "You can never win."

"I can" said the Princess defiantly. "Look how far I have come, I have walked barefoot for many days and nights. I will reach your castle, and I will get my brother back."

"It's still further than you think" he promised her, before disappearing into thin air. Though where he had been standing were now a brand new pair of boots, made of the softest lambswool and when the Princess put them on she found that they had been enchanted, for her feet now no longer hurt at all.

With a deep breath to gather her courage the Princess walked back towards the gates of the labyrinth. As she approached the heavy doors once more they swung open to allow her admittance. Once she passed through the doors swung shut behind her, their clanging a knell to some doom that lay before her. The Princess grew deadly afraid. It was a well known fact, throughout the many countries that made up her world; those that passed through the labyrinth were never the same again.

"I can do this" the Princess whispered to herself, gathering her courage about her like a cloak and she started to walk.

She walked for what seemed like hours and soon the Princess was hopefully lost, she had no idea where she had entered the labyrinth, let alone where the Castle Beyond the Goblin City was.

Inside the labyrinth was dark and gloomy, dead leaves and fallen branches littered the pathways and the Princess could barely see where she was going. She tripped often on the debris, sometimes falling and before long her arms were covered with bruises and tiny cuts. "I must get some light" said the Princess "and then I can see where I'm going."

Turning the next corner the Princess was met by a sudden bright light. As her eyes adjusted she saw hundreds of floating lights around her. "Faries" she murmured to herself, amazed, for in her land fairies only existed in stories.

"Hello Princess" they called as they danced around her happily. "Why are you here, so far from your home?"

"I'm searching for my brother, the Goblin King took him from me and I must find him."

The fairies laughed and danced around her "What you seek is in the Castle, Princess, but you still have a long way to go".

"Can you help me? It's so dark and I can't see where I'm going."

"For a lock of your beautiful hair Princess, we will light you upon your journey."

"It seems a fair price to pay" agreed the Princess and using a pair of tiny golden scissors given to her by the fairies she cut off a lock of her hair and gave it to them.

In return the fairies led her through the dark passages of the labyrinth

In time, with the coming of the dawn, the passages grew lighter and the Princess could see her own way. She thanked the fairies graciously for their help and she continued through the passages alone.

She walked through twist after turn, bend after bend and after a few hours she became hopelessly lost.

"I shall never find my way to the castle" she sighed "and I shall never find my way out of this labyrinth."

She lay on the ground and began to weep and as she did her tears became a stream. She dipped her fingers into the water and it was icy cold. She sat beside the stream for sometime before a voice beside her interrupted her thought.

"Why are you so sad beautiful girl?"

She looked down to see a frog sitting next to her on the riverbank. "I am looking for my brother in the castle. But I got so lost."

"I could help you find your way" he croaked "for a price."

"Anything" the Princess begged, "please help me."

"I will take you to the Castle beyond the Goblin City for a kiss" he demanded.

The Princess was horrified, she couldn't imagine touching such a slimy repellent creature, let alone kissing it. But she needed to find her brother and from the stories she had been told as a girl, people had spent lifetimes trying to find their way to the center of the labyrinth.

"Very well" she agreed and she bent down and placed her lips to his green face.

There are stories where frogs turn into princes after the kiss of a beautiful maiden. However this is not one of those stories, sometimes a frog is just a frog and all frogs want an occasional kiss from a pretty girl.

"Follow me!" cried the frog and it jumped into the water and started to swim.

"Wait, wait" the Princess ran into the water after him and chased him up the stream.

She followed him up the stream for what felt like hours. She walked through the water until her feet were numb. Under bridges and through weeds and marsh, she followed the frog. In water that barely covered her toes to water nearly up to her neck, she followed the stream that became a river and a river that became a moat.

"The castle beyond the Gobin City" the Princess breathed, amazed at it's size. "I made it."

"Farewell" the frog called to her joyously.

"Goodbye" cried the Princess "and thank you!" she blew him kisses as he dived back into the water and disappeared.

"Come on feet" she encouraged herself as she scrambled up the bank towards the drawbridge leading to the enormous castle. At the top she found that although the bridge was down the castle door was firmly closed and to one side there was a gnarled old dwarf with tufts of white hair sticking out of his ears. He was pulling ivy off the castle wall viciously and tossing it into the lake. It was a while before he noticed her presence.

"Where is my brother?" She said to the dwarf.

"He's in the castle, as you already know" the dwarf replied.

She pushed on the great door with all her might, but it did not move. She pushed and pushed until her muscles ached, but it did not give one inch.

She turned once more to the dwarf, who was regarding her with mirth reflecting in his eyes. "How do I open the door?" she demanded of him.

"You knock. As simple as that"

So she knocked and waited. Nothing happened.

"Knock harder" the dwarf commanded.

So the Princess banged on the door as hard as she could and when the door still did not open, she pounded all the harder. Her knuckes were bruised and battered and eventually they bled and as a single drop of blood fell upon the door it opened.

The door opened to reveal the Goblin King. He stood surrounded by his subjects, goblins of all shapes and sizes, colours from vibrant orange and amber to darkest grey and black. All of which had there beady yellow eyes on her.

The Princess barely noticed any of them. For in the arms of the Goblin King was a small child. A child that had grown since the last time that she had seen him. A child with the same green eyes as her own. The missing Prince and her baby brother.

"Princess" boomed the Goblin King. "You made it here at last. I have been waiting for you. I hope that you enjoyed your time in my labyrinth and that my subjects have treated you kindly. For now that you have seen my domain and met my people you could be Queen here. I offer you everything, forget about the boy. Stay by my side and rule with me."

"Give me the child"

"You cannot have him back!" mocked the Goblin King "The child belongs to me now, you do not have the strength of will to take him back."

"My will is as strong as yours Goblin King"

"And your Kingdom?"

"And my Kingdom as great. You have no power here, no power over me."

The Goblin King sighed, defeated, he knew she would never stay with the kidnapper of her brother. "You may have your boy, go on say your right words"

The Princess smiled gratefully and intoned slowly "Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered I have fought my way here, to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom as great. You have no power over me."

He put her brother into her arms and she cradled him gently in her arms. She locked eyes with the Goblin King as he raised his hand and as he brought it back down, she was standing in the courtyard of her father's castle.

It was a masquerade ball and every member of the nobility in the Kingdom had been invited.

Unknown to her stepmother the Princess attended in secret. She wore a dress that had belonged to her mother, a magnificent creation, dripping with silver and diamonds. Her face was covered in a mask as dark as night, her bright eyes shining through.

The Princess was having a wonderful time, her very first ball. She laughed with the young knights and princes, she drank the drinks they brought and accepted their offers to dance. Any one of them would have married her there and then, her beauty was so great, but the Princess did not want a handsome prince, she yearned for a King.

She spun into the arms of a new dance partner, who grasped her more firmly than the others, and when he commanded her with his arms, she moved effortlessly in time to the music.

She looked into the stranger's eyes, trying to work out who he was. His eyes, his mis-matched eyes, were so familiar to her, yet she could not recognise him.

"I am here to liberate you" he whispered into her ear, it was a voice as familiar as her own heartbeat. "I will take you back to my castle, beyond the Goblin city and you will be free."

"Do you mean to turn me into a goblin" the Princess asked coyly, for she now knew exactly to whom she was speaking.

"Do you want me to turn you into a Goblin?" he chuckled in return.

"If it means that I can be close to you, then yes turn me into a goblin. For I would rather spend the rest of my days as an ugly goblin than to be parted from your side."

"I can bear it no longer Princess" he groaned "fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave" he kissed the back of her hand "be my Queen, be mine, I am begging you."

The announcement of the wedding of the Goblin King and his bride was cause for great celebration within the Labyrinth. The people rejoiced at the marriage for their new Queen was beautiful and gentle and kind and won the people's hearts instantly.

And one year later she gave birth to a beautiful son.

His name was Jareth.


End file.
